Woman Caught Stealing Baby from Stroller in Synagogue, Sources Say

A woman took another woman's baby from a stroller inside 770 Eastern Parkway, the main Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Crown Heights. View Full Caption

DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

CROWN HEIGHTS — A 27-year-old woman is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation after she was caught taking another woman’s baby inside a Crown Heights synagogue, police sources said Wednesday.

The woman is suspected of taking the infant out of a stroller Wednesday morning inside the women’s section of 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish community in Crown Heights.

The baby’s 26-year-old mother, who was visiting the famous synagogue from France, sources said, had walked away from the stroller for a moment and immediately sought help from police when she returned and found the baby missing.

Outside the synagogue, officers and the mother caught up with the woman, who had walked less than a block west on Eastern Parkway before turning around to return the baby, she told police. The child was unharmed during the incident.

The suspect, whose name wasn't immediately released, told police she had been undergoing treatment for psychiatric issues.

She was taken to Kings County Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and is expected to be charged with attempted kidnapping, sources said.

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